Our leadership team uses IDS® during our weekly Level 10 Meetings™, but we find ourselves in polite deadlocks where nobody wants to name the real elephant in the room. How do we break through this false harmony?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Polite deadlocks are a clear sign of false harmony on your leadership team. When people value comfort over truth, your issues list becomes a graveyard of symptoms rather than a tool for progress. To break this false harmony, you must actively call out the elephant in the room. This requires the facilitator, or any team member, to exercise humble confidence and lean into the discomfort. When you sense that the team is holding back during the Identify step of IDS®, pause the discussion. Ask a direct question such as what are we not saying right now, or who are we trying to protect. You must create a safe environment where identifying a real issue is not treated as a personal attack. Remind the team that conflict around ideas and issues is healthy and necessary for growth. If the issue involves a specific person or department, address it directly using your core values and the GWC™ framework. Once the real issue is named, the solution usually becomes obvious. Cultivate a culture where it is considered a disservice to the company to leave an elephant unaddressed.